A Hunter College student was shot and killed in Harlem while attending a meeting of an African-American cultural-awareness group, police said yesterday.

Matthew Hall, 18 – both of whose parents are Hunter professors – was shot once in the back at East 126th Street and Fifth Avenue at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday during a break in a Universal Zulu Nation meeting.

Police said there was an argument on the street involving several people.

It was unclear whether Hall was involved. But a black man in his 20s shot Hall with a a 9mm handgun before fleeing on foot, police said.

Hall, a first-year student who lived with his parents on Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village, was rushed to Harlem Hospital. He died seven hours later.

Cops described the gunman as 5-foot-11, weighing 150 pounds and wearing a white, orange and black striped shirt.

The victim’s father, George Hall, told WNBC/Channel 4 that his son was an aspiring high-school teacher who liked writing and rap music.

Sources said that he had a 3.5 grade-point average.

Hall’s mother and father are Hunter College professors, and the school has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the shooter.

George Hall told WNBC that his son joined the Universal Zulu Nation to learn more about black history and culture.

The black nationalist organization says its founder, Afrika Bambaataa, invented hip-hop music 30 years ago. The group’s political philosophy appears similar to that of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Neighbors at his family’s posh high rise said Matthew Hall was an anti-war activist, posting fliers after the 9/11 attacks opposing military action in Afghanistan.

“Our grief is not a cry for war,” the signs read.

“He could understand the grief and pain of other people,” said Anahit Gharutyunyan-Gaskill, 51, an Armenian immigrant who lives in the building.

“In my 10 years in this country, Matthew was the brightest person I’ve met in this building,” she said.

“He was so smart and articulate. He was so politically aware at such a young age.”

When asked what made him so intelligent, Gharutyunyan-Gaskill replied, “Probably his parents.”

Another shocked neighbor remembered Hall as the loving owner of a German shepherd he dutifully walked on a regular basis.

“He was a nice guy. Everybody in the building loved him,” the neighbor said.

Hall’s murder comes just five months after a female Hunter College student was bludgeoned to death in Brooklyn.

Ramona Moore, 21, whose nude, decomposing body was found behind an apartment building, was killed with several blows to the head and chest with a blunt object.